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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27549898">look out for them (the ones that need you)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmessages/pseuds/violetmessages'>violetmessages</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Torchwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Between Seasons/Series, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Light Angst, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:01:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,281</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27549898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmessages/pseuds/violetmessages</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t so much that Gwen didn’t believe that Ianto couldn’t take care of himself. She’d seen him wrestle a Weevil, shoot a Hoix, and stun a man with relative ease. Ianto was perfectly capable of defending himself physically. Of course he’d be able to fight off anyone that tried to hurt him. </p><p>But there were always other dynamics in play - far more sinister ones.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gwen Cooper &amp; Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>81</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>look out for them (the ones that need you)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t so much that Gwen didn’t believe that Ianto couldn’t take care of himself. She’d seen him wrestle a Weevil, shoot a Hoix, and stun a man with relative ease. Ianto was perfectly capable of defending himself physically. Of course he’d be able to fight off anyone that tried to hurt him. </p><p>But there were always other dynamics in play - far more sinister ones. She’d had to deal with some of them herself, like laughing at jokes that made her uncomfortable and smiling when her supervisor made comments about her appearance that weren’t completely appropriate. Lucky for her, she hadn’t been in any situations  that were <em> too </em> bad. But of course she had friends who had been hurt that way. </p><p>Everyone knew someone who had. </p><p>Which was why she was rightfully concerned. Jack and Ianto had been relatively discreet, but right before Tosh and Jack were taken by the Rift, Tosh had recovered a wiped CCTV tape that provided a little too much information into their bedroom habits. Owen and Tosh didn’t seem too bothered, but it rang uneasily in Gwen’s mind. </p><p>Jack was not only significantly older than Ianto, he was also their boss. Jack had been perfectly nice to her, but Gwen knew that just because he was decent to her, it didn’t mean he couldn’t take advantage of anyone else. It didn’t seem completely right - and even if Torchwood had no human resources policies, something had to be done. Gwen planned on confronting Ianto soon, making sure he was alright and promising her support. </p><p>Then Bilis Manger and Abbadon happened, Jack died, came back to life, and kissed Ianto in front of everyone. Then he fucked off to space, and Gwen was left in charge of an organization that none of them understood, nor were any of them qualified to lead. </p><p>The confrontation happened a month later, when they finally found some kind of even footing. The week after they came back from the wasted trip to the Himalayas, Gwen approached Ianto, who was scrubbing the side of the coffee machine furiously, wearing the same beleaguered expression she was all too used to seeing on herself.  </p><p>“What are you doing tonight?” asked Gwen, giving him a wide, friendly smile. Ianto dropped the washcloth and gave her a polite smile in return. </p><p>“I’ll probably be working in the Archives. Why, do you need me to do something?” he asked. Gwen shook her head. </p><p>“It’s your night off today, isn’t it? It’s Owen’s turn to man the Rift, and Tosh is on call,” said Gwen. “You don’t need to be here.”</p><p>Ianto let out a humorless laugh. “What else would I be doing?” he said, wearily. He picked up the washcloth and began scrubbing at the coffee machine again.  </p><p>“Well you can’t stay here,” Gwen ordered. “It’s not healthy for you to be in here all the time. Have a pint with me.”</p><p>Ianto gave her a look, which she firmly refused to acknowledge. She raised her eyebrows at him until he sighed, nodding his head. </p><p>“Alright,” said Ianto. “But you can pay for the first round.”</p><p>Promptly at eight, she dragged Ianto away from the ever growing pile of paperwork on Jack’s desk and marched him to the nearest pub. She forced him down into a table, ignoring his protests about possible Rift activity, and pushed a pint into his hands.</p><p>“So,” she said. </p><p>“So.”</p><p>“What’s been happening?” Gwen asked awkwardly, taking a swig. It would probably go better if at least one of them was a little tipsy. </p><p>“You know what’s been happening,” Ianto chuckled mirthlessly. “It’s not like I do anything outside of Torchwood anymore.”</p><p>“Yes, and that’s not healthy,” Gwen insisted. “You can’t be spending so much time here, it’s not-”</p><p>“-We need all the help we can get, now that-” he cut off, looking embarrassed. Ianto lifted his glass and took a deep gulp. </p><p>“His name isn’t a taboo,” she said, softly. “I know that he’s a absolute bastard who left us without saying anything but-”</p><p>“-I know,” said Ianto. He was silent for a moment, taking a long drink from his glass. When he finally finished it, he turned to look into Gwen’s eyes. “He’s a bastard, and if he ever comes back, I don’t know whether I’ll punch him or kiss him.”</p><p>“I know the two of you-”</p><p>“-It wasn’t like anything you were thinking,” he cut her off again. “We were just shagging, nothing beyond that. He just gets into your head and then - I don’t know.”</p><p>It was now or never.</p><p>“Ianto,” she started carefully. “He didn’t, he didn’t ever force you to - not that I think you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself or anything - it’s just that Jack is in a position of power and I know what that’s like - when you can’t be outright and say something without - and I don’t mean to imply that Jack ever did anything - but I don’t want to -”</p><p>“-stop,” said Ianto, holding his hand in front of her, and cutting off her rambling. “I appreciate the concern, but Jack didn’t force me to do anything. In fact, I was the one who first asked him.”</p><p>“Oh,” she said, relieved. “Oh, good! I didn’t mean to say that you-”</p><p>“-really, I’m grateful that you care, but it’s not like that. It never was,” Ianto smiled faintly. “I’ll go get us another pint.”</p><p>When Ianto returned, she gave him a big smile, hoping to smooth over any residual awkward tension. Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind, and they moved on to much safer topics like rugby and Owen’s new obsession with the medical artifact they’d recovered last week. </p><p>At the end of the night, right before they went their separate ways for the night, Ianto turned to her and smiled, slightly bashfully. </p><p>“This - this was fun,” he said. Gwen smiled widely and enveloped Ianto into a hug. He went stiff immediately, but relaxed after a second, hugging back. </p><p>“We will be doing this again,” Gwen threatened as she let him go. Ianto gave her one last smile, and she walked away, confident that she had done the right thing. She felt less tense now, and Gwen wasn’t worried about Ianto anymore. She thought she understood him more, and if Jack ever came back, she was going to give him a right bollocking. </p><p>Two months later, she finally got her chance. </p><p>After John Hart left, and after they all checked into a hotel for the night, Ianto pulled her aside. “He asked me on a date,” he whispered into her ear. </p><p>“Did you say yes?” she whispered back. He nodded, promising to tell her about it later. </p><p>That night at dinner, the mood was especially awkward. Jack tried his best to talk as much as possible, which somehow made silence more palatable. Tosh gave a cursory attempt at conversation, and Gwen briefly mentioned the failed Himalayas trip - which, oddly, cast a strange glaze over Jack’s eyes - but other than that, no one really talked much. Tosh got up almost immediately after she finished eating and Owen only lingered for a few minutes afterwards. </p><p>Less than a minute after Tosh and Owen had left, Ianto pushed out his chair, nodded to Jack and said goodnight to her. It was time. </p><p>“So,” Jack smiled awkwardly. “What else is new?”</p><p>She rose from the table, and grinned at him. </p><p>“I am going to go to bed,” she said. “But - and this is very important - if you <em> ever </em> force Ianto to do something he doesn’t want to do, I will take a cricket bat to your kneecaps.”</p><p>And Gwen turned and left, not looking back at Jack’s face. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are always appreciated!</p><p>Find me on tumblr <a href="https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/">here</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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